Fractured Twilight {KH Fanfic/Boy Of Choice}

Chapter XXXVII

"I'm Sora's Nobody, created when Sora lost his heart. As you know, Sora is a Keyblade wielder which makes him valuable. Us Nobodies have no hearts, and Xemnas's plan was to use the Keyblade to collect hearts... Because you see only those who wield the Keyblade can release hearts like that."

Ember tilted her head to the side curiously. "What does collecting hearts do exactly?"

Roxas awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "It's uh... Complicated. Xemnas created his own artificial Kingdom Hearts and needed hearts to full fill it. I guess if he completed it it would give him power, but he hasn't finished so I'm not sure. There was also rumor that while Xehanort attempted to clash pure light and darkness, Xemnas thought sacrificing hearts would awaken Kingdom Hearts."

Realizing she threw him off track, Ember quickly spoke so Roxas could finish his story. "So you were forced to collect these... Hearts."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I was just a tool for Xemnas to use... All of us are. Since I was the only one who could really collect hearts, Xemnas grew impatient. He..."

Ember paused and gave Roxas the time he needed to finish. As he trailed off Ember noticed his body growing still, as if he lost his breath. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts Roxas began talking again, but this time his voice grew shaky.

"H-he ordered Vexen to do experimentation." Roxas paused again. "If there was a way to create an artificial heart, then there was no need to wait for Kingdom Hearts to finish. S-so Xemnas gave V-Vexen permission to..."

His hands clenched together tightly. Ember sprung from her bedside, her sudden movement causing the curtains to flap wildly. She sprinted to Roxas's bed and sat on the edge, gently taking hold of one of his hands. She noticed the indentation from his nails as they had dug into his flesh and she quickly rubbed her thumb over the imprints in an attempt to soothe him.

Roxas shuddered his breath. "He always had me pinned down and strapped and just... Doing countless of experiments on whatever he could. He shocked me, stabbed me, cut me open or did really painful tests. I don't even know what he was doing half the time I just knew that it hurt really bad. He um... He did succeed in creating the heart. It's... In me right now."

Curiously Ember blinked and her eyes darted down to his chest. Axel and Roxas were the only Nobodies on their little team, but if Roxas was occupied with the artificial heart then Axel was the only one left with an empty chest. It was weird to think about, and Ember couldn't help but wonder how an artificial heart even worked.

"What is it like? Having a heart." She asked.

Roxas used his free hand to place the palm against his chest. "It kinda feels like... I can feel emotions even more? If that makes sense. But other than that I feel no different."

"No you feel the trauma and negative emotions you were given. You probably feel it a lot more than if you didn't have a heart."

"Well... That sucks."

They both giggled at the slight humor, but the mood grew somber once more. "Nobodies aren't even supposed to feel anything, but Axel and I always talked about our emotions and how we made a friendship. Xemnas claims it was because we remembered how to feel, but we weren't actually experiencing true emotion."

Ember could only comically shrug at his comment. "Dude your guess is as good as mine. Xemnas is garbage and a mastermind. There's a chance you do feel emotion but Xemnas wanted you to turn those feelings off to succeed in his mission."

Angrily Roxas pounded the side of the bed with his fist. "What a dick."

"I mean that's just a theory!" Ember frantically explained. "I just... I'm sorry you had to go through that."